Promise me?
by stardust610
Summary: Oneshot.  Harry decides to go to Godric's Hollow alone.  What does he find when he gets there?  And what is he going to do about Ginny?  My first fanfic, please review!


Dislcaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling. No profit is being made off this story. I'm just playing around with her characters a bit :-).

"Harry, come here," Ginny said, tugging on his arm. "I want to show you something."

Harry followed Ginny out of the room, having somewhat of an idea of where they were going. He let himself be led out of the Burrow and towards the forest in the distance. Once they arrived there, they found a clearing with a bench in the center. Harry walked over with Ginny, and sat down, looking around him. What a beautiful sight, he thought. It was a warm spring day; there were patches of daffodils, buttercups, daisies, and blue forget-me-nots. Cherry blossoms fallen from tall trees littered the ground all around them.

Ginny started to sit down next to him, but he hugged her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She giggled as she rested her head back onto his shoulder.

"It's so pretty," Ginny breathed.

"That's because you're here," Harry answered, brushing his lips across her neck.

Ginny closed her eyes and sighed. Harry let his hands explore Ginny's body slightly, moving them beneath her shirt to feel the soft skin around her navel. He heard Ginny gasp as his fingers tickled her abdomen. Not hearing any complaint from her, he moved his hands higher so they were resting at the bottom of her rib cage.

"Harry…" Ginny sighed, tilting her head to the side. Harry took this opportunity to kiss her neck again, gently nipping with his teeth. He was just about to move his hands a bit higher when he felt Ginny's small hands pull his wrists down.

Extremely disappointed, Harry opened his mouth to complain, but Ginny stood up off his lap and pressed her hand to his mouth.

"Don't say it Harry," she said slyly. "You've been naughty today."

And without another word, pulled hard on his hand and dragged him towards a particularly large pile of blossoms and flowers where she pushed him in forcefully. Harry, totally bewildered and surprised, toppled over and fell with an "oomph," crushing some flowers in the process.

Before he could do anything, he found himself pinned beneath Ginny and stared up at her face. She grinned triumphantly at him.

"You think you're something, huh?" Harry asked. And before she could reply, he, being stronger than she, easily shifted them so that now he was leaning over her. He couldn't help but notice the stray blossoms in her hair, and how much more beautiful they made her look.

Ginny frowned, seemingly wondering where she went wrong with her plan, when Harry pressed his lips forcefully to her own. Getting lost in the passion of the kiss, Harry felt Ginny's hands move up to grip his hair while her lips parted to allow his tongue to enter.

During their battle of tongues, Harry moved his hands across her again, resting at the bottom of her shirt where he tugged upwards. He broke the kiss and opened his eyes to see what he was doing, while Ginny started unbuttoning his own shirt.

Harry had just begun to make some progress in taking off Ginny's offending garment when she began to dissolve. Wondering what in the world was going on, Harry looked wildly around. The forest started to dissolve, too, until he was staring at the back of his eyelids. Opening his eyes, he saw a plain white ceiling and discovered that he was lying on his back on his bed of his room.

Harry swore loudly, when he realized Ron was in the room with him.

"Everything all right, mate?" asked Ron, sleepily.

"Yeah, go back to sleep," Harry muttered. Ron's snores started up again almost immediately.

Groaning, he rolled over to press his face to his pillow. No matter how hard he tried, Harry could not get his mind off of Ginny. She would always be in his heart, even if he didn't want her to be, and now she was in his dreams. He knew he had to continue his hunt for Horcruxes without her, but how was that possible if she was with him everywhere in every way except physically? She was too much of a distraction, which, Harry thought bitterly, would only become worse if they were romantically involved again. Not to mention she would become number one on Voldemort's hit list. No, the only solution Harry could see was staying as far from her as possible, even though he missed her like hell. He was sure that she missed him as much as he missed her; Ron had told him as much, and he hated the fact that he was causing her so much pain.

It was so hard not to get caught up with her at Bill and Fleur's wedding. It nearly broke his heart to see all the sadness in Ginny's eyes when he looked at her, and it was all he could do not to envelop her in his arms to offer some comfort. Harry had turned away from her and everyone else and ran away to his room at the Burrow that he shared with Ron. Thankfully, he had met no one as he went through the house and up the stairs, as the party was still going on. Grateful, also, that no one had followed him, he stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about what he was going to do. He guessed that Ron must have come in some time later, but he had fallen asleep before then.

Now, here he was, staring at the ceiling again, wondering what he should do. He knew he wanted to go to Godric's Hollow someday soon; maybe today was the day. A quick glance at his watch told him it was around 8:00 in the morning.

As quietly as he could, Harry got up and got dressed, slipping out of his and Ron's room. He assumed nobody would be up yet, as the wedding reception must have gone very late the day before. This assumption was correct; he met no one on his way out of the Burrow and was glad for it.

Harry knew that Ron and Hermione wanted to come with him to Godric's Hollow, and he knew he would probably enjoy their company. He felt guilty leaving them at the Burrow, but Harry had an odd desire to go through this journey alone. Maybe it was stupid to go by himself, but he had already made up his mind. Harry had left a brief note to Ron, telling him where he was going, and he really hoped that they wouldn't follow him once they woke up and discovered where he had gone.

Once Harry had walked far enough away and into the woods, the same woods in his dream, he concentrated hard on the street he had researched with Ron and Hermione. He was seventeen now (his birthday had been about a week ago), and he had taken and passed his Apparition test at the first opportunity he had. Harry turned on the spot and opened his eyes to find himself looking down an unfamiliar street of houses.

Thankful that he hadn't Splinched himself, Harry walked up the street to where he knew his parents' house had once been. As he passed a small field filled with flowers and overgrown grass, he smiled at a little girl picking flowers and putting them in a basket to take home.

It was only when he passed the house after this field that he did a double take. Looking closely at the house numbers on either side of the field, his heart skipped a beat. Twenty-two…twenty-eight. Harry knew the house number he was looking for was twenty-six.

Realizing the remains of the demolished house must have been removed and new grass was planted and overgrown, Harry stood off to the side near a tree stump to let the girl finish picking flowers.

He sat down on the stump while he waited, wanting to look at what was once his house, alone. He wondered what he would find in this field when he looked closely. Perhaps he would find nothing, but something was telling him there might be something there. Would he know the spots where his mother and father had been killed? Does the _Avada Kedavra_ curse leave a recognizable mark? Suddenly, Harry wasn't so sure he wanted to see what was in that field. What if it just made him feel worse? But it would be a waste to come here and just leave again without exploring anything, he thought to himself.

The girl picking flowers left the field with her basket, giving Harry a small wave as she walked back home. He tried to smile at her but found it impossible; he was too anxious about what he might find.

After Harry made his decision to at least check things out, he stood up from the tree stump he was sitting on. When he was sure no one was coming, he walked over to the field and started to fight his way through the flowers, weeds, and tall grass.

His foot kicked something, hard. Swearing, he stumbled over to see what the hell he had just broken his toe on. When he looked more closely, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut; it was a small gravestone, barely visible by the tall grass surrounding it.

_Here Lie_

_James and Lily Potter_

_Died 31 October 1981_

_Rest in Peace_

Tears sprung to Harry's eyes, and he was now very glad he had decided to come alone. He didn't know how he would be able to handle this with Ron and Hermione present, as he felt like he was going to break down any second.

Slowly, he sat down on the grass in front of the grave, tears now breaking free of his brilliant green eyes and streaming down his face. He couldn't believe that he was looking at his parents' grave for the first time. Why hadn't Lupin ever told him about this? Or even Sirius, when he had been alive. Surely they would have known about it.

Harry sat there for what seemed like hours; he couldn't bring himself to move, and didn't want to, anyway. He knew that Ron and Hermione would worry about him being gone so long, but he didn't care at this point.

"Harry Potter!" an angry voice shouted behind him.

Harry stood up quickly and spun around, drawing out his wand in the process; after being in silence for so long, the sound startled him. What he found when he turned around was an irate Hermione and a Ron who looked as though he did not really want to be there. The remaining tears on Harry's cheeks seemed to soften Hermione's expression slightly, and he hastily wiped them away.

Harry watched Hermione look for the cause of his crying, and saw her expression become guilty as she spotted the gravestone.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said quietly. Harry looked away; he did not want her pity right now.

"Why did you come here?" he asked stiffly, while staring at the line of houses in the distance.

"You know bloody damn well why we came here, Harry!" Ron's voice cut through the air. "You shouldn't expect us to just sit back while you go on alone to a place you aren't even familiar with! Something might have happened here!"

"But nothing did happen," said Harry quietly.

"That doesn't mean it couldn't have!" Hermione snapped. "We were worried about you, Harry! You're not leaving us behind anymore; we've already told you we're going with you, and you can't stop us."

Harry sighed. They really weren't going to leave him alone. He just hoped that Ginny wouldn't decide to follow him as well.

"Ginny's another story though, mate," Ron said, as though reading his thoughts. "She's becoming suspicious; I think she knows that we're planning on leaving. You know she won't stay behind without a fight."

"You have to talk to her, Harry," Hermione said gently. "Explain to her _why_ she can't come. She'll listen to you, won't she?"

"I can't talk to her," Harry said through clenched teeth. Ginny is so difficult, he thought to himself. Why can't she just… understand?

"Why not?" Ron asked sharply. "Did you do something to my sister, Harry? She has seemed sort of depressed lately, now that I think about it."

Harry didn't answer. He had purposely avoided telling Ron about Ginny; he didn't want to think about what Ron would do once he found out that Harry had hurt her. Things didn't seem to be looking good right now, though. Maybe I should just tell him, Harry thought. Get it over with. Do it. Now.

Hermione broke the silence. "You broke up with her, didn't you? At Dumbledore's funeral." It was hardly a question.

She certainly has an annoyingly clever mind sometimes, Harry thought bitterly. He saw Ron's face take on an expression of anger and irritation. Intent on avoiding Ron's glare, Harry studied his shoelaces, noticing that one of them was untied, and quite dirty from trailing along the ground. Ron must have taken his silence as an affirmation of Hermione's statement, because after a few moments he walked up to Harry and punched him squarely in the jaw.

"Ron!" Hermione squealed.

"Bloody hell!" Harry sputtered, tasting blood in his mouth and bringing his hand up to feel the damage. "You didn't have to punch me!" he said irritably.

Ron sent him a murderous look. "That's for hurting my sister," he said dangerously.

"I did it for her own good!" Harry burst out angrily. Wouldn't they ever understand? "I can't be involved with her anymore. If Voldemort ever found out about us she'll be number one on his hit list, and I don't know about you two, but that's something I don't particularly want to risk! You know she can't go with us to find the Horcruxes, and being with her would just complicate things more! Don't you get it? It's too dangerous for _her_!" Harry took a deep breath. "You should understand more than anyone, Ron," he said with a glare towards Ron. His jaw really did hurt.

Ron and Hermione were silent after Harry's lengthy outburst, apparently contemplating what he had said.

Finally, Hermione spoke gently. "You still have to talk to her, Harry. You know very well that she won't talk to Ron and me, and that she'll try to follow us unless you do something about it."

"Fine," Harry said after a while. "Just give me a minute." He looked back towards the small grave.

Hermione smiled sadly at him, then gripped Ron's arm and Apparated them both away.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Around noon, Harry had finally worked up enough courage to talk to Ginny and went looking for her. But where the hell is she? he thought. For a long time, he walked aimlessly around, until he remembered. The forest! The one in his dream! Ginny had always liked sitting on that bench when she wanted to be by herself or alone with him.

Quickly, Harry headed towards the forest, and after a few minutes trekking through it, he found the clearing with the bench in the center. Looking around, he found it exactly like in his dream; flowers everywhere, and cherry blossoms floating gently down from the trees.

Ginny was sitting on the bench facing away from him, her long red hair cascading over the back of the seat. She must have heard him, for she spun around to face him almost as soon as he could see her.

"Hey," Harry said softly.

"Hey," she replied, thought turned back around as if she didn't want to look at him. Harry knew that she might be angry at him, but he had to do this, if not for himself then for Ron and Hermione.

Harry walked up to the bench and sat down beside her. "Gin, please don't be angry with me," he pleaded.

She sighed. "I'm not angry, Harry. I'm just… frustrated," she said quietly, though Harry noticed that she was still avoiding his gaze.

"Look," he said. "I'm hurting as much as you are; it kills me not to be able to be with you. But you have to understand –"

"Why, Harry?" she cut him off, standing up and facing away from him. "If we're both missing each other so much, why not just forget that you ever broke up with me?" She asked it hopefully, as if she already knew the answer.

"Because," Harry said, standing up behind her. "I love you too much."

Ginny spun around, only to find him inches from her. Backing away hastily, she searched his face.

"What?"

Harry ran a hand through his untidy hair. "You're too important to me, Ginny, and I… I can't risk you getting injured or even… k-killed… by Voldemort. You know I would never be able to live with myself if it was my fault you were hurt because I was too stupid to prevent you from coming with me."

"So you're going to let Ron and Hermione come with you, but not me?" she asked, looking angry now. "I'm not a baby, Harry, I can handle –"

"I _know_ you can, Ginny," he said, moving close to her and tucking a strand of her beautiful hair behind her ear. "I know." He took a deep breath, catching the flowery scent of her hair as he did so. "Ron and Hermione won't listen to me, and there's nothing I can do to stop them. But…" Harry sighed. "I need you to stay here with your mum and dad; make sure they're safe."

She looked up at him, even angrier, but said nothing. Harry knew that she always hated to be left behind.

"Please, please don't try to follow me, Ginny. You won't be able to at any rate; I've learned some good hexes recently."

"Where are you even going?" she burst out, looking livid that he would even think about hexing her.

Harry sighed again. "I can't tell you. I promised Dumbledore I would keep it a secret."

"Harry, I'm sure if he knew the circumstances, he would let you tell _me_," she said, almost exasperatedly.

"I can't tell you!" he repeated. "What if Voldemort kidnapped you and forced you to tell him information? It would ruin everything."

"So you think he's going to kidnap me, then? Maybe even hoping he will?" she asked dangerously.

"Never!" Harry replied, wounded by her words. He took her hands in his own. "Haven't I just told you that I love you?" he asked quietly.

She nodded her head, close to tears now. "I'm sorry," she said miserably, staring at the ground.

"Ginny, do you think I don't _want_ to be with you?" he asked, taking her chin in one of his hands and forcing her to look at him. "Do you think I don't want to touch you and hold you every night wishing that all this rubbish with Voldemort and the war is just a dream? Do you think I don't want to _love_ you and hope to God that you love me back?"

Ginny was crying now, tears streaming down her beautiful face, though she was still gazing into his green eyes.

"I-I do l-love you," she muttered brokenly.

"I _do_ want all that stuff, Ginny, more than _anything_," he said softly, brushing her tears away with his fingers. "I want _this_," he said, lowering his head and giving her a gentle, gentle kiss on her lips, a kiss full of love and promise. He broke off and looked over Ginny's head at the trees in the distance. "But I can't have it, at least not until I kill _him_," he added quietly and bitterly.

"I'm s-sorry Harry," she mumbled. "I k-know you h-have to g-go on alone. I just d-don't want you t-to." More tears trailed down her cheeks.

"I don't want to either, Gin," he replied heavily. "But I have to. Don't worry, I'll visit you!" he said, trying to cheer her up.

"I'll w-wait for you," Ginny sobbed. "I'll wait f-forever for you to c-come back to m-me. P-promise me y-you'll come back t-to me when t-this is all over! L-lie to m-me if you h-have to!"

It broke Harry's heart to see her like this, but he knew he couldn't promise her anything. He knew that there was a very good chance he might not survive his quest, but he couldn't tell her this. Gazing deeply into her brown eyes, he smiled softly. "I'll try," he whispered truthfully.

Ginny leaned into him, resting her head on his chest, tears still falling fast, soaking through his shirt, but he didn't care. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her for a very long time.

_End._

A/N: Please tell me what you think of this story! It's my first fanfic so I would really like to know how it is! Thanks:-)


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